Advisory council unanimously recommends three state-law exemptions under District of Innovation plan

The District Education Advisory Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to recommend that the Board of Trustees amend the district's District of Innovation (DOI) plan to seek exemptions from three newly applicable state requirements: an 8‑hour required mental‑health training for all staff, procedural changes to the district grievance process under Senate Bill 12, and a new statewide method for weighting AP and dual‑credit courses for GPA. The committee's motion passed by a show‑of‑hands vote after a presentation by a district staff member.

The recommendation matters because the exemptions would change how the district trains staff, handle formal parent and employee grievances, and compute class rank, issues that affect staffing, administrative workload and students' academic records.

District staff told the committee the training requirement would cover substance use, adverse childhood experiences, grief and trauma, protective factors, and school‑based resources. The presenter said the district already requires numerous…